[06/25/09 - 12:47 PM]ABC Delivers Year-To-Year Increases on Wednesday in Viewers and Young Adults for the 3rd Week in a RowABC spins the numbers for Wednesday, June 24.

[via press release from ABC]

Ratings Report for June 24, 2009

"QUESTIONS FOR THE PRESIDENT: PRESCRIPTION FOR AMERICA"

Special Edition of "Primetime" at 10pm Delivers ABC's
Largest Audience in the Time Period in 6 Weeks

"Questions for the President" on "Nightline" Beats "Conan"
and "Letterman" According to Fast Nationals

The ABC News special edition of Primetime "Questions for the President: Prescription for America" drew 4.7 million viewers last night, attracting the network's largest audience in the 10 o'clock hour in 6 weeks. The conversation about health care with President Obama, moderated by Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, built on its Total Viewer lead-in by 12% (4.7 million vs. 4.2 million).

"Questions for the President: Prescription for America" continued on "Nightline," where it outperformed CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and NBC's "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" last night, according to Nielsen fast affiliate time period data. The program averaged an audience of 4.25 million Total Viewers, while "O'Brien" averaged 3.66 million and "Letterman" averaged 3.23 million.

"I Survived a Japanese Game Show" Takes Second at 9pm to
NBC's "America's Got Talent" in Hard-to-Reach Men 18-34

"I Survived a Japanese Game Show" Improves on ABC's Performance
On the Year-Ago Night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC News' "Primetime" Builds on its Lead-in, Sees its Audience Grow on the
Half-Hour and Draws ABC's Largest Audience at 10pm in 6 Weeks

Wednesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC ranked No. 2 to NBC on Wednesday night among Men 18-34 (1.4/5-tied) and Men 18-49 (1.6/5-tie).

� For the 3rd week in a row, ABC's Wednesday results were up from the same night last summer (6/25/08) in Total Viewers (5.5 million vs. 5.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 1.7/5).

"Wipeout" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Wipeout" ranked No. 1 in the 8 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (7.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/9-tie), taking the top spot in its time period among young adults for the 3rd time in its 5 telecasts during the summer. "Wipeout" outperformed the season finale of "I'm a Celebrity�.Get Me Out of Here" by 3.3 million viewers (7.7 million vs. 4.4 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/9 vs. 1.5/5).

� For the 5th straight week, the ABC unscripted series finished No. 1 in its time slot across all key Men demos (M18-34 � 2.1/8, M18-49 � 2.5/9 and M25-54 � 2.6/9).

ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" ranked second in its time period among hard-to-reach Men 18-34 (1.6/5), behind only the Wednesday premiere of NBC's "America's Got Talent."

� "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" improved the hour for ABC over the same night last year (6/25/08) in both Total Viewers (4.2 million vs. 4.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.4/4).

"Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

The ABC News special, "Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America," drew 4.7 million viewers, attracting the Net's largest audience in the 10 o'clock hour in 6 weeks � since 5/13/09.

� Building on its Total Viewer lead-in by 12% (4.7 million vs. 4.2 million), the ABC newsmagazine saw its audience grow from its first half-hour to its second half-hour (4.6 million to 4.8 million).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 32% currently, from 25% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 6/24/09.